Pip System Corebook

The Pip System is designed from the ground up as a genre-bending rules system for any roleplaying game! Create your own setting, convert and existing one, or pick up one of our amazing worlds, like Mermaid Adventures, Infestation: An RPG of Bugs and Heroes, or A Kid's Guide to Monster Hunting.

Perfect for introducting new players and kids to roleplaying

Customizable character options with minimal bookkeeping

Easy-to-learn mechanics utilizing only six-sided dice!

Includes all the rules needed to play (even a few premade characters to get you started)

Skills:
Swap the skill / Speciality requirements
Instead of needing 1 skill to gain 1 Speciality you should need 1 specialty to gain 1 skill
Start with 24 BP instead of 16 BP as your chaarcter will be far more specialized than before
Reason:
As a speciality and a skill both cost 1 bp but a specialty being inherintly weaker (used only under certain circumstances where the skill is used always) I would only buy specialties when I plan on being advanced qualities. Hence, as a balancing factor, the number of speciality ranks within the same skill should be the maximum for the skill.
On an RPG level the...See more swapping also explains how the char got to get good at the skill
Example:
Roger wants to play a sniper, so he picks up the aim specialty „Rifles“ on Rank 1.
Once he did that he can invest 1 point directly into his Aim skill. Roger decides to
add another specialty. He wants to show that his character did not learn aiming alone
via rifles but also via pistols (probably in his youth) and adds „Pistols“ at Rank 1
and invests another point into Aim so that it is now Aim 2.
The package is:
Aim 2
Rifles 1
Pistols 1

Gear Qualities:
For each BP spent on the Rating of the item you have to buy 1 Gear Quality first
Start with 15 Gear BP instead of 10 Gear BP
Reason:
Same logic as with skills, specifically for balancing reason
Example:
As the first point of a melee weapon is free, you don't have to buy a quality.
For a rating of 2 however you need 1 quality first as a rating 2 costs 1 BP.
So Roger might want a Great Sword Rating 2 with the „mighty“ quality at 2 BP

Magic:
Reason:
Spells and „spells per day“ heavily restrict your players on what they can do and what they can't.
Instead I suggest an open system:
You have as many magic points as you have magic skill.
Magic has no specialty requirement but costs 2 BP per point (the 5th costing 3 BP).
All magic specialties function as knowledge only, such as Artifact/Mythic lore, etc.
New Concepts & Rules:
All dice coming from magic act as white dice, but need to be a different color, e.g. blue.
So whenéver you have magic in play you need white, black and blue magic dice.
Magic Unraveling:
Whenever a magic blue die comes up a „1“, future rolls miss 1 die for every „1“ rolled
Magic Upkeep:
Buffs and debuffs can be upkept by spending 1 magic point per affecting spell. The duration increases by another scene and all lost dice due to „magic unreveling“ are restored. You pay the upkeep „after“ you restored magic points after the scene. You may also spend 1 magic point within
the scene to refresh the dice, however it does not incrase duration.
Magic points:
You spend magic points to do the following:
-Buff
-Debuff
-Summon
-Effect

Buffs:
You may spend magic points to increase a skill specialty by 1 for each point spent for a scene.
As per magic unraveling each „1“ rolled diminishes the pool for future rolls in the same scene by
1 (check upkeep for options)
Example:
Roger wants to improve his friends character „Steven's“ swords strike specialty by spending 2 magic points, calling it „magic weapon“ adding two blue magic white dice to Stevens pool. On his turn Steven attacks an enemy with his strike ability, his melee weapon's rating and the 2 blue dice from Roger's spell.
He hits, but one of the blue dice comes up a „1“ so on further attacks he has one less blue die as
the magic unravels

Debuffs:
You may spend magic points to add blue black dice to an enemy's skill specialty by 1 for each point spent for a scene.
As per magic unraveling each „1“ rolled diminishes the pool for future rolls in the same scene by
1 (check upkeep for options).
You have to succeed on a magic skill white dice with the enemies resist/CR rating check to debuff the enemy succesfully. If unsuccessful you have not spent the magic points but the enemy is immune against that specialty effect
Example:
Roger wants to debuff his friends character Steven's Enemy's sword's strike specialty by spending 2 magic points, calling it „weapon's curse“ adding two blue magic black dice to the enemies pool.
As this is a debuff, Roger has to roll his magic skill + enemie's CR/resist as black dice to succeed on
cursing the enemy. He rolls and gets 1 success which is enough.
On the enemy's turn Steven is attacked.
The enemy hits, but one of the blue black dice comes up a „1“ so on further attacks he has one less blue black die as the magic unravels.

Summon:
For each magic point spent you create an „Extra“ with a CR of 1 per magic point spent.
They do have the typical CRx2 pool (which is subject to magic unrevaling for their
whole pool, so they statistically diminish quickly.) A summoned creature can lose max
2 blue skills per roll due to magic unraveling. For each extra magic point spent
you may add 3 companion BP. They last 1 scene and can't be upkept.
Example:
Roger decides to spend 2 magic points on the CR and 1 magic point on 3BP which he
spends on a 2 AR Armor and 1 BP on a 2 MR melee weapon. He decides that he vitalizes
an empty armor with life. The pool is 4 and on defense 6. Each „1“ rolled on attacks
or defenses reduces the pool by 1 (maximum 2 lost dice per roll)

Effect:
Create a Challenge with a rating of 1 CR (and a pool of Crx2) per 1 magic point spent.
Additionally you can give the effect 1 free gear quality per magic point spent to flesh out the effect
taking into consideration that white dice will add black dice instead.
The effect is instant but can last longer by logic (max a scene). The effect can unravel with each further check against it. Effects can't be upkept.
Example:
Roger decides on a spell that is supposed to grab all enemies.
He spends 2 magic points on it and decides on „powerful“ (adding 1 black die on athletics rolls instead of adding a white die) and „mighty“( to affect more targets) for the 2 free options for having spent 2 magic points. He decides that the spell is a quickly growing plant that will grab one target and having the chance (as per „mighty) to hit others. On a success the players will be stuck.
If later another character will enter the field of the plant the black dice might be reduced by possible „1s“ rolled on the blue black dice against the initial target (as per magic unraveling). The effect will
bestow the „petrified“ condition on a success.

Regenerate Magic points:
After each scene you roll your magic skill (as white dice) + white dice derived from the gear quality „Spellbook“ and add spent magic points as black dice. Each net success restores 1 magic point - hence the more magic points you spend the less you probably get back, which empowers management.
The other magic rules wouldn'T apply in this modification

thanks for creating such an awsome sandbox system - I'm a great fan!
cheers, Marcus

Diego BJuly 31, 2017 11:57 am UTC

I just played the quickstart (very funny and simple) and I was wondering if in the corebook there are rules for long campaigns, where pgs grow up with experience.

Eloy LJuly 31, 2017 1:48 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, there are advancement rules in the Pip System Corebook.

Diego BAugust 01, 2017 9:51 am UTC

Very well. Thank you!

jean-frédéric MJuly 24, 2017 10:17 pm UTC

PURCHASER

hey Eloy, sorry to bother you again, but i have a question about "Magic" because i feel like in some setting my player would tempted to use it this skill to use spell, but in some setting (horror for exemple) can i change it to Occultism ? or for a cyberpunk or post apocalyptic dystopia can i change it also by Psy/Weird and use the magic system template to create powers ?
and lastly, can some ''magic powers" can be use as mechanical enhancement (and if it s the case, i probably missed that part)

Everything you're asking if you can do is fully within the purview of the Pip System. As a matter of fact, page 28 talks about this specifically under the "Customized Skills and Qualities" section.

I'm not sure what you mean about the mechanical enhancement though.

Also, we can continue the discussion here, but there is also a G+ Community set up for the Pip System specifically here: https://plus.google.com/communities/107720402629334279472

jean-frédéric MJuly 25, 2017 8:19 am UTC

PURCHASER

I ll check the page 28 (sorry, english isn't my mother tongue so i probably missed that chapter when i was looking at the book) and i joined your group on google +.

Steve FJuly 23, 2017 2:33 pm UTC

This looks like a lot of fun. I've been looking for something that would work well for my fiancee and her and her 8 year old as well as having enough going on for a bit more serious 'grown up' play. When can we expect some sort of print option?

Eloy LJuly 23, 2017 2:55 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

First off, yes! This system would be perfect for you and your family gaming situation.

And yes again! We are currently in the proofing process which always takes a bit of time. But we hope to have print versions available ASAP.

Steve FJuly 23, 2017 3:28 pm UTC

Excellent. Looking forward to it. Thanks for the speedy reply.

Diego BJuly 31, 2017 9:20 am UTC

I'm also waiting for the paper version XD

jean-frédéric MJuly 19, 2017 10:49 am UTC

PURCHASER

Any chance to find a printer friendly version of the character sheet ?

Eloy LJuly 19, 2017 10:53 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Hey Jeff!

There is a character sheet in the book. Just turn off the background layer to make it printer friendly.

jean-frédéric MJuly 19, 2017 12:16 pm UTC

PURCHASER

oh true ! i m so accustomed to download PF character sheets, i completly forgot about this feature. thanks mate.

Eloy LJuly 19, 2017 12:17 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

No problem. We also have a prince-friendly version and a form-fillable version on our web site, if that makes things any easier. :-)

jean-frédéric MJuly 19, 2017 1:38 pm UTC

PURCHASER

the fillable version can come in handy. i ll check it out.

Diego BJuly 18, 2017 8:46 am UTC

Is the rule system fully "traditional stule" or has narrative mechanics (distribution of "authority" in game) too? I'm talking about narrative influences like pbta games or Fate, just to mention the best selling ones.

Eloy LJuly 18, 2017 10:34 am UTC

PUBLISHER

I'd say it rests somewhere in the middle. It's generally a traditional styled system, but players can spend Fortune to do narrative things at times.

Diego BJuly 18, 2017 10:37 am UTC

Thanks!

Charles MJuly 18, 2017 8:25 am UTC

PURCHASER

Eloy has really caught lightning in the bottle with this amazing fun and versatile role-playing game system. You can easily create nearly almost any type of character. It is not only kid friendly but also adult friendly. You can really run away with this system and build almost any world or genre you can imagine. Character creation is a snap, within only a few minutes you will be creating well rounded and fun characters. The system is light and very easy to learn. Not only great for group play but I think it also plays well for solo play. This is a super fun game system, give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

Michael HJuly 17, 2017 2:36 pm UTC

PURCHASER

I really like what I see so far, and I have to point out that the pdf is a layered file so the background colors can be turned off for lighter printing of pages for whatever reason.

Eloy has really caught lightning in the bottle with this amazing fun and versatile role-playing game system. You can easily create nearly almost any type of character. It is not only kid friendly but also adult friendly. You can really run away with th [...]

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